Birthstones: Rockin Through The Ages

For more than 45 centuries (3000 BC up to the 1500s), the acquisition of gems
for their aesthetic qualities was a minor consideration. Though gem beauty is
the dominant reason for today’s gem purchasers, in the ancient world, gems were
not luxuries. They were considered necessary to daily life.

The idea that gems contain special properties and powers is a concept that
has survived for countless thousands of years, and lives on our modern
birthstone charts. It is the oldest of jewelry traditions to link a birth date
to a particular stone and to accept the gem’s ability to influence the wearer’s
life.

The awe that the ancients felt for the gems they wore is a race memory passed
down to us today, and is a great deal of what our desire for precious jewelry is
all about. The Birthstone tradition links our time to a time when man was more
at peace with nature and more in tune with the world around him. To better
understand the properties associated with birthstone (as well as other power
gems) we must look back in gemological history and become aware of the mystique
that began these traditions.

Birthstones: It’s in the Stars

It is debatable when exactly it occurred, but the idea of Gem Power was first
cultivated in the societies of ancient India and Babylonia. Both of these
ancient peoples ascribed many magical powers and virtues to gemstones. This was
no mean, primitive superstition, but a science: a complex and sophisticated
system of beliefs.

In these ancient cultures, jewelers were almost never the first consultants
in matters of gem collection/purchases. The royal houses and the landed rich
(the only people who could afford to trade in gems) would almost always consult
an astrologer. Usually these sages were on retainer to the best houses of the
land. Once their advice was heeded, the purchaser visited a jeweler with
recommendations based off the buyer’s horoscope.

In India, wise sages used gems as a practical means of attunement to life
forces and spiritual cleansing. Wearing these stones would align the wearer with
the life energies and the currents the gems exerted. From these practices
evolved the nine-gem Vedic system of birthstone matching. This system is still
in use in many Eastern cultures as The Vedas formed the foundations of Hinduism.

To the astrologers of ancient Babylonia (called Chaldeans), gemstones were
imbued with powerful metaphysical properties. The ruling planets’ link to their
related stones in both the Indian

and Babylonian systems laid the groundwork for our Western birth month, sign and
stone traditions.

This Eastern birthstone tradition found its way into what would become the
foundations of western religious ideology through Judeo-Christian teachings. The
famous Breastplate of Aaron, the brother of Moses and the first priest of The
Arc Of The Covenant, was constructed at Moses’ command to specifications given
him by God. Over the last 3500 years both Jewish and Christian theologians have
theorized about the significance of the 12 gems used in the breastplate’s
construction. Josephus, the great Jewish historian, described the protective
armor in detail and this description is believed to be the real origin of our
modern birthstone record.

It was not until the late 1500′s that religious scholars and “enlightened”
scientist began to attack the idea of gems as magical repositories of alchemical
energies. The jewelry establishment (aided by the more superstitious
underpinnings of society) was able to hold off the naysayers for a long while.
By 1600, however, this Western Zodiacal tradition started to lose ground and by
1700 most people scoffed at the idea.

Birthstones: Out with the Old

This Age of Enlightenment notwithstanding, the birthstone tradition has
survived into the modern era. The current birthstone list was established in
Kansas City, MO in 1912 when the National Association of Jewelers met to rework
and revise the list that had been in use since the 1400′s. The list as it stood
in 1912 was one that had evolved over centuries and carried the influence of
many eras and cultures. The 1912 revision drew fire from gemstone purists who
felt that the list’s importance was being subjugated by commercialism. Only six
of the stones from the older, traditional list were retained and revisions such
as the movement of Ruby from being December’s stone to July’s and the addition
of tourmaline as an October alternate were considered scandalous.

George Frederick Kunz, one of the great gemologists of his day, repudiated
the new list vehemently in his book, “The Curious Lore of Precious Stones”,
going so far as to outline the DANGERS of playing with this list. Certain that
our sense of romance and imagination would be harmed, Kunz declared, “Once we
allow the spirit of commercialism … to dictate the choice of such stones …
there is a grave danger that the only true incentive to acquire birthstones will
be weekend.” Despite the objections of the respected expert, the modern
birthstone list was born. It survives to this day, and is the list in use most
around the world.

Theological debate over the centuries has revised and remolded many of the
ancient world’s ideals but gemstones continue to play important roles in daily
life. Throughout the ages gems have been treasured amulets prized for their
ability to influence the energies of nature and the life force itself. Even
today much of the attraction to gems still centers on the mystical over the
decorative.